Archive for the ‘DIY’ Category

Work in progress still…Will add pics as I finish this up over the next week.

Firstly, I take no responsibility if you screw something up. Use this guide at your own risk. Its pretty fiddly but if you are patient enough you should be able to get through without breaking..much..

Since so many guides online regarding Reverse Camera installations are for the W204 Sedan (Which only half applies to the Wagon or Estate) I’ve decided to make the internet’s life easier and post my own estate-based guide. Hopefully this will assist you if you’re looking to retrofit a reverse camera or even change your license plate globes on your MB Wagon.

I carried this out on my C63 Estate but it should be similar for other W204/S204 estates as well.

A few words before starting.
The wagon/tailgate is a pain to get a cable into. You would need to run something via the rubber boots that connect between the body of the car and tailgate. This is the reason I have chosen to use the wireless sender kit. Unlike the sedan – There is no easy way to route a cable into the tailgate.

The tailgate trim is a pain in the ass to remove. You need to be pretty forceful to get the thing off. Also the fact that you HAVE to take all this off to change a license plate bulb is nuts.

There are two screws holding in the rear license plate trim on the outside. They are an absolute shit to access, unless you have a right angle torx kit I linked above. Even then you’d still probably need to undo the wiper motor bolts.

Tailgate trim removal

Pull off the handle trim covers. They will reveal 2 torx screws on each side. Unscrew these and remove the plastic trim that was being held in. Set aside.

Rear Trim – Handles

The whole rear plastic is now held in by metal clips and plastic guides. The outer edges are easier to pry down first. Carefully using a trim tool pry the outside edges out. They will come out diagonally from the tailgate.

Rear Trim – Removed – Showing plastic guide clips to be aware of.

The next two clips are on each side of the catch mechanism. These were REALLY tight to come out. The clips actually popped out of the trim piece as opposed to the clip popping out of the tailgate. This was the most annoying part to remove. Be careful as there are plastic guides – so as you pull – you need to come outwards away from the tailgate.

Rear Tailgate – Clips stuck in, instead of coming out with trim. These were very tight…

Disconnect the 3 wiring harnesses – 2 from each side light and one from the automatic tailgate close button (if you have it)

Next to come off is the carpeted trim piece in the center of the tailgate. These are held on only by orange trim clips. Use your trim tool to get in to each of the ones closest to the locking mechanism and slowly pry them out. Once you get the outer edge, there are another 5 clips holding the panel in the middle. You should have enough leverage to carefully pop the remaining out as you pull the piece down. There are 4 metal clips that should pop out as well near the glass edge.

Carpeted center trim – Orange Tabs to remove with trim tool.

Rear carpet Trim – Tab and clip locations

License plate trim removal (Outside)

Remove 2x torx screws next to license plate lights.
Undo 3x 10mm bolts holding in rear wiper motor. Once undone you can swing the motor out of the way (It will still be attached to the arm on the outside – Be careful not to swing it into the paintwork and scratch it)
Undo the 2x torx screws just behind the motor next to the tailgate release mechanism.
On the outside of the tailgate, use a pry tool to pop off the 4x plastic clips, be careful when sliding it out as there will be a small clip holding the left side in (where the factory camera position is) – You need to release this from the inside and then license plate trim should come off.

License plate trim – Clip/screw locations

Headunit removal

Use pry tool and pop out center airvents. You should be able to get it from the sides. Once one side is out, the other should pop. Unclip 3x wire harnesses for popup screen control, hazards, etc.
Unscrew 2x Torx screws on each top side of the headunit. There will be little plastic tabs (The screws held them down) that you can now pull upwards.

NTG4 Headunit – Plastic tabs you need to pull upward to remove unit.

Put a cloth or something on your gearstick and then pull out the unit. It comes diagonally upward and then out (there are guides to make sure it comes out the right way, just feel and follow). Rest the unit on the gear stick/dash.

If you have Video Aux (Via MDI Cable in the globebox) there will already be a FAKRA cable plugged into the port you need. I just unplugged it and put it aside since I never use Video Aux.

Attach your Right Angled FAKRA cable to the plug. See below as to why you need a right angle. It will hit that thicker plug behind it otherwise.

FAKRA Video Connection – Right angle connector

Attach your Wireless transmitter to the other end of the FAKRA cable.

Depending on your headunit – Find a 12v switched (Only on when car is on) power source and tap that for transmitter power.

Rear Camera Install/License Plate globe change

Unclip license plate light (I used the right side) and remove.

Push through light globe (I used an extra rubber O-ring as my globe didnt seat into to the camera holder snug) and install into camera.

Globe with extra O-Ring.

Insert camera/light and clip into place, with wires running back into inside of tailgate.

Camera installed, globes back in.

Power up your Wireless sender – The wiper motor has 12v that is easy enough to tap into. Black = 12V, Brown = Ground. I just unplugged the connector and pushed the wires into the female pin connections, and pushed the connector back in. Use a Multimeter to check before hand if you aren’t sure. Tape up the wires and secure with a cable tie.

12v Power off Wiper motor.

Since the sender will pass on 12v to the camera as well, all that is needed now is to plug in the RCA Yellow plug and also the power plug.

Headunit Setup – Engineering mode

Hold the Red Hangup, No.1 and Hash for 5 seconds.

Go to HW Setting, HU Parameter and then go to Page 3 – Rearview Camera. Choose SRVC. Back out to the main menu and go to END to exit.
Navigating the engineering screen – You can only go to the next page if you rotate to the last line, then push the Comand knob DOWN. Same to go back a page, but push UP.

IMPORTANT – Shut the car off, pull the key out. Wait a few mins.

Turn car back on (Put it into ON) and the hold the brake and shift into Reverse (Make sure the handbrake is on) and you should see the screen switch to the Reverse Camera mode.

I had bought an Ikea MICKE Desk awhile back because it was pretty simple, had some good drawer space and more importantly, hidden cable management!

The only downside to this desk was its depth. Unless you used a laptop or something on it, there really wasn’t much space at all.

In order to overcome this, the thinking cap came on and with some inspiration spurred on by this workspace and the whole Ikea Hackers movement. I decided to see what I could do to improve the desk, rather than go out and buy something totally different. (I did look, but didn’t see anything that fit my needs and that was affordable – so might as well make something!)

My idea started off as to use an extra shelf. Raised, so I could place the monitors on it and gain much needed desk space underneath back. I had a LACK wallshelf hanging around so I played around with that first, to get an idea of what would work.

Using some old Manfrotto boxes and the LACK, this is what it looked like:

Still haven’t painted it, have put speaker grilles on and also put in some LED lights for the top marquee and moves section. These give a nice ambient light if you want to play in the dark at the moment.

Used some Contact for the front of the CP, just to stop sweat and crap soaking into the bare MDF. Contact is the stuff you used to use in school to cover your books and stuff with.

Planning to try vinyl wrap to cover the cab..have to do some testing first and see how it goes. Here’s some updated photos.